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Well, it must be high-fives
and thumbs-up all round in
the Canboulay camp, in the wake
of the girlfight video, which was
shown on television. The satis-
faction would be because exactly
what they ve been re-enacting
and screaming to be "our cul-
ture," which they want "taught in
schools", has been learned, and
how. Children fighting each other
in the street, and fighting the
policeman who tries to stop
them. Can t wait to see what
they do when they grow up.
(Incidentally, isn t it illegal, or
violates the media code of ethics,
to show minors in news reports?
But let that not detain us.)
As noted in the press reports,
this incident is not anomalous.
TTUTA president, Devanand
Sinanan said similar problems
abound in schools. (Search "Trini
School Fights" on YouTube.) Dr
Keith Rowley, PNM/Opposition
Leader, described the affray as
resembling "hyenas in the
African jungle." Thank God for
camera phones, or the grassroots
would brand it a plot against
Africans, and blame Sat, and
parasitic mamaguyers would hob-
ble and slither out to brand the
claim "racist," or impugn the
gentleman s PhD. But I digress.
For those who don t think this
is "our culture," however, it s not
a triumph, but no surprise either.
Given the number of incidents
you hear about (but see in the
media only occasionally), it s clear
that the school system is a disas-
ter area. Someone should show
Trini School Fights to the Minis-
ter of Education, Dr Tim
Gopeesingh, and hint to him this
whole education business is more
complicated than he suspects.
And here s the problem: perva-
sive confusion, from the very top,
as to what the school system is
for, and even what education is.
The wide assumption in practice
is that its purpose is to train ten
per cent of students to excel at
pointless exams and leave the
other 90 per cent to mentally
rot.
This isn t sarcasm, it s fact.
Literacy is around 50 per cent,
and many people seem clueless
as to what else an education sys-
tem is or does, other than pro-
vide free babysitting and a piece
of paper to get a wuk. Conse-
quently, the connection between
the decline in education and the
increase in social decay is a great
mystery of the Trini public
sphere. (Other imponderables
include books in general, the
movie Inception, traffic signals,
the appeal of soft music, and
why statutory rape is a crime.)
So, to state the obvious (just in
case): formal education is prima-
rily a means to train members of
a society to think and behave in
ways to benefit society and
themselves. Job training is impor-
tant too, but not primary. And as
a public service, I offer the fol-
lowing axioms from articles sum-
marising recent research, and old
thinking, on educational issues
published the NY Times over the
last few months.
First, as Daniel Firestone
noted, the state of schools and
national culture are directly
related. That is to say, culture is
made real in and by the educa-
tion system, which then pro-
duces behaviour and attitudes to
perpetuate the culture. The US
(he writes), a nation that believes
any form of egalitarianism is
"socialist," allocates resources to
the rich and starves the poor. It
treats schoolteachers poorly, and
is now seeing a consequent
decay in education and society.
(See opening paragraph of this
article.)
But education isn t confined to
school. On April 10, 2013, Tina
Rosenberg wrote that if children
are not spoken to coherently,
constantly and with compassion
from birth, they never develop
crucial literacy and emotional
skills. Ergo children from families
who are not paid attention to
and spoken to from birth are
almost destined to fail. By age
three, she wrote, a poor child
has heard millions fewer words
than a well-to-do one, which
defines the rest of his/her life.
The applicability to Trinidad is
obvious.
And the scars are not
metaphorical. On October 11,
2013, David Borenstein wrote
that "toxic stress" in children,
derived from "adverse childhood
experiences (ACEs)---including
abuse, neglect, domestic violence
and family dysfunction" were
linked to health and social prob-
lems. He quotes a Harvard sci-
entist as saying: "Experience gets
into the brain as it s developing
its basic architecture and how it
gets into the cardiovascular sys-
tem and immune systems".
Imagine what living with noise
day and night does. And what
could be more adverse than
spending seven hours a day in an
environment of apathy, violence,
and anti-intellectualism---ie, your
average high school---sandwiched
by two-hour traffic jams and
omnipresent stress?
But what about what s taught
in school? Jennifer Kahn wrote of
experiments in US schools where
children were taught emotional
intelligence, since, she writes: "A
2011 study using data collected
on 17,000 British infants followed
over 50 years found that a child s
level of mental well-being corre-
lated strongly with future suc-
cess."
But how is mental well-being
taught? Managing emotions, self-
control, and moral education. It s
well-established that literature,
from Dickens to Steinbeck,
increases empathy and emotional
intelligence in students. And
Brian Kisida (et al) on November
23, 2013, said it all in the article
Art Makes You Smart. But stu-
dents have to not hate reading
and be receptive to art to benefit.
In other words, they have to not
be taught Carnival is all the art
we need.
Nothing said above is counter-
intuitive. Many teachers instinc-
tively know that art, culture,
education and society are inextri-
cably linked, and require more
thought than Carnivalists and
local culture vultures can man-
age.
The problems seem over-
whelming, but with co-ordinated
efforts, can be addressed effec-
tively. A good place to start fixing
the education system, and stop-
ping scenes of children fighting
in the streets from becoming
commonplace, would be to take
Carnival out of schools, and stop
taking policy basket from culture
hustlers and hacks.
A25
commentary
Wednesday, March 26, 2014 www.guardian.co.tt Guardian
SALE BY MORTGAGEE
Sale 09/2014
OFFERS ARE INVITED FOR THE
FOLLOWING PROPERTY:
10 Acres 16 Perches of freehold lands situate at
Trial Estate Road, La Lune Road, La Lune Village,
Moruga
Important Note
The property is being sold "as is" without any
responsibility of the vendor to provide statutory
approvals, surveying data or warranty on its
suitability for use for any purpose.
The property is being sold subject to any existing
tenancies, occupancy or encroachments however
created or formed.
ENQUIRIES CONTACT:
Telephone Nos. 662-4020/4286; Fax No. 662-0755
Officer #59 Ext 5425
SEND SEALED BIDS TO:
The Properties Officer
Sale No. 09/2014
Recoveries Department
#34 Southern Main Road, Curepe or
P.O. Box 72, Port-of-Spain
BIDS MUST FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES HEREIN GIVEN
TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE DULY CONSIDERED
Bids must be received by 3.00 p.m. on 2014 April 14th.
No late bids will be accepted
Unsuitable bids will not be acknowledged
The mortgagee does not bind itself to accept the highest or
any offer. The property will be sold subject to all rates, taxes
and other outgoings that may be due at the time of the sale.
0324006
Commercial - Debt Collection
Filing Attorney: Aisha Donawa Bar No. DOA2010038
M.G. Daly & Partners
Attorneys-at-Law
and Notaries Public
115A Abercromby Street
Port of Spain
Email: aishadonawa@mgdaly.com
THE REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
CLAIM NO. CV 2013 - 03991
BETWEEN
RBC ROYAL BANK (TRINIDAD & TOBAGO) LIMITED
(RBTT BANK LIMITED)
Claimant
AND
ALFRED AWAI
Defendant
Pursuant to the Order of the Honourable Madam Justice
Pemberton dated 11th day of February, 2014 you are hereby served.
TAKE NOTICE that an action has been commenced against
ALFRED AWAI in the High Court of Justice Claim number
CV2013- 03991 BY RBC ROYAL BANK (TRINIDAD &
TOBAGO) LIMITED FORMERLY (RBTT BANK LIMITED) in
which the Claimant claims against the Named Defendant:
(1) The sum of $521,293.83 due and owing to it by the Defendant as
Guarantor of the debt of Phoenix Resources Limited under and
by virtue of Contract of Guarantee and Postponement of Claim
dated the 11th day of October, 2012.
(2) Interest;
(3) Costs;
AND THAt service on you of the Claim Form and Statement of Cast
issued in this action on the 9th day of October, 2013 is effected by this
advertisement once per week for two (2) consecutive weeks.
AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE and ALFRED AWAI must
within twenty-one (21) days front he first date of publication of this
advertisement acknowledge service of the said Claim Form and
Statement of Case by completing and filing at the Court House, Hall of
Justice, Knox Street, Port of Spain the prescribed form of the
Appearance, which may be obtained at the Court Office at the Hall of
Justice, Knox Street, Port of Spain.
AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that if no Appearance is entered
within the said twenty-one (21) days from the last date of publication
of this advertisement then the Claimant may proceed against you and
judgement will be given in your absence.
Dated this 13th day of March, 2014.
0319009
RAYMOND RAMCHARITAR
raymondramcharitar@hotmail.com
THE SCHOOLGIRL AFFRAY---CULTURE IN ACTION
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